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Quote Originally Posted by Ninjadeadbeard View Post
Hmmm. Could work. I'd stick with that, but maybe reverse which one is Pro and Anti-Slavery. Think of it: A rural Plantation based economy doesn't have the tools to maintain Ironmen. Factories do. You could have the war be between a rural, more magically based North versus a more urbanized/mechanized South who shackles Ironmen to their factories.

Just a thought to switch things up. It also would make the winners more sympathetic (not that the original Union wasn't) by transforming them from an Unstoppable Industrial Juggernaut into a Rag-tag bunch of Misfits trying to right a great wrong against terrible odds. RL Americans love underdogs. It also lets you use the Magic v Tech theme in the form of a direct contest. That said, this world's war doesn't need to end so clear-cut and clean. Perhaps there's a short era of splintering during and after the war before re-unification can take place. Maybe only the Slavery issue is resolved while both Nature and Tech take a hit.

But above all else, if you plan to flesh out Pseudo-America's Civil War (seriously, we need a name for this Empire), it has to be big. Not just in casualties or in numbers, but in ideas. The American Civil War was our culture's Odyssey. A fictional version of it should carry no less grandiosity.


I like those ideas, but I'm a little cautious. I like the idea of steam technology spreading with the years, and I feel like the industrial region winning is the only way to accomplish that. At the same time, it seems strange that an agrarian region would rely on automatons and still be noticeably different from an industrial region. Also, will the setting be too radically different from the real world if the agrarian nation wins? Let's work through this stuff.

Big Ideas behind the war: ensuring the freedom that brought the Empire to these shores in the first place, and the fight to recognize the worth of all (Imperial?) sentience?

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RL New Orleans was allied with the South, but got itself swiftly occupied by the Union in short order. Personally? I'd make Coterois into this world's Casablanca, a place that, during the war, acted with great autonomy due to its remoteness, acting as both City of Spies and gateway out of a war-torn nation. During the war, Coterois was of great strategic importance (it was hard to chase smugglers into the swamps and its sailors were experienced enough to run blockades with ease), that it was the unoffical middle ground, where agents of the North and South could meet, both for diplomatic purposes, espionage and occasionally assassination. After the war, the city became a safe haven for deserters and veterans alike, particularly the more violent element who couldn't let go of the carnage they saw.


That idea is just. too. cool! I'm totally down with it. Maybe with a dash of this? Off the top of my head, I can't think of anything cooler than Steampunk Noir Zombies in the Wild West.


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Nothing so far beyond that Poe idea. I'll think on it.


Think harder!

On another note: the double-action revolver wasn't developed until the 1880s, which limits people in our world from going rapid-fire mode unless they're REALLY good, which I like. There's also an implication that you can shoot faster if you're only holding one gun. Alternately, you could have two guns, shoot less often, but have two different enhancements at your disposal. I like these ideas.

I also watched Sukiyaki Western Django tonight, and it restored my faith in the ability to have guns and sword side-by-side. Wunderbar!